Attachment for printing presses



Nov. l0 1925. 1,560,570

- w. c. HAMMER'SMITH ATTACHMENT FOR I RINTING PRESSES Wil/dm C. Hannan/,71W

Patented Nov. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM o. HAMMERsivIITI-I; or DENVER, COLORADO;

" VAITAClll-ICMCENEl? FOR PRINTING ERESSES.

Application led October 27, 1924. Serial No. 746,081.

lTo a-ZZ whom t may con-cern.'

Be it known that I, IVILLTAM C. HAMMER- sMITI-I, a citizen of the United States, residing at the `city and county of Denver, and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for PrintingPresses; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and ups the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, `which vforni a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic printing presses and has reference more particularly to an attachment designed to guide the paper in its passage towards the stops and to keep the saine from rebounding orfbeing displaced from any other cause.

In thev operation of automatic printing presses of every kind, and especially pres-ses V employed in multiple color printing where perfect registry is necessary, it is important that the paper shall be properly fed to the grippers on the cylinder; that it shall be held flat and prevented from curling away 30 from the guides and stops. Presses of this type are usuallyprovided with a supporting tongue that projects under and past the stops.` These tongues support the paper.

Abovethe supporting tongues there are guide tongues that are spaced a considerable distace from .the supporting tongues. The

paper, as it is fed, strikes the stops, but

often rebounds or curls up so -that when it4 is Vgrasped by the grippers, it is not inthe proper position to register, with the result that the machine will either stop or poor work will be done. f

I have found that by providing an auX- iliary guide tongue of this resilient material, such, for example, as phosphor bronze, locating the same over the supporting tongue and so adjusting it that it will press gently against the latter, the paper will be held against the supporting tongue with sufficient force to prevent its rebound and also to keep it from curling.

My invention can. be most clearly explained and will be most readily understood when reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which my improvement is shown on a press in its proper relation to the otherparts, and in which:`

Fig. 1 is a prospective view of a portion of a printing press showing my improvementy in place thereon;

Fig. Q, is a section taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of my auxiliary guide iinger; and

Fig. lis aside view thereof. i In the drawing only such portions of the vprinting press have been shown as are necessaryfor a proper understanding of my invention. Numerals 5 and 6 lrepresent the sides of the feeder mechanism, numeral 7 indicates the cylinder, while numeral 8 designates the mechanism which carries the printed paper away. The sides 5 and 6 are connected by bars which perform various functions, one of'which I have designated by the numeral 9. A bar 10 connects the sides 11. and 12 and carries the adjustable stops 13, which have a notch 14 in their lower ends for receiving the supporting tongue 15. supporting tongues 15 and abuts the stops 13. Presses of this type are usually provided with guide tongues or fingers 17 which are spaced a short distance froinithe top of the supporting tongues 15. These guide tongues are of very little value in guidingthe paper, as they are spaced from the tongues 15 a distance greater than the thickness of the paper, which, therefore, never contacts therewith unless the paper bulges up for some reason or another. To prevent the edge of the paper from curling up, .the stops 13 have been provided with curved members 117 whose function it is to hold the edge of the sheet against. the top of the supporting finger 15. It was found that with the equipment described the paper will sometimes rebound from the stops or curl upward and move out of its proper position sufficiently to destroy the proper register and produce defective work.

In order to overcome this difficulty, I provide an auxiliary guide tongue 18 above each of the supporting tongues 15. Theseauxiliary guide tongues are made of thin resilient material, such, for example, as

phosphor bronze, spring brass, or German' silver,-in fact, any material suitable for this purpose may be used. One end of the tongue 18 is fastened to a clamp comprising The paper sheet 16 rests on the greater or less pressure.

two members 19 and 20, being fastened between the straight portions of these clamps. The clamps have curved ends 21. and 22 which embrace the rod 9 and are so dimensioned that they Will grip the rod. with lsuilicient force to pre-vent rotation. The clamp member has a longer straight portion than the member 19 and is provided at its end with an adjusting screw 23 by means of which the tongue 18 may be forced against the supporting tongue 15 with The tongues 18 terminate close proximity to the stop 13, and are: of such strength and so adjusted that they Will permit the sheet 16 to move up against the stops 13. It is evident that the tongues 18 will hold the sheet of pa er latand prevent it from rebounding a ter it has struck the stop. In. fact, when a :f press is equipped with my auxiliary tongue,

the pape-r will stay Where it belongs until grasped by the g'rippers 24k. This permits the press to be .speede'd up and prevents stops due.y to misplaced paper aswell as' dainage due to defective work.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new' is:

1. In a printing press, in combination, a rotating cylinder provided with gripping devices, means for feedingV sheets of paper to said cylinder, means for guiding the paper into position to be engaged by the grippers, said guide means comprising a tongue adapted to support a sheet of paper, a stop mechanism operatively associated with said tongue for stopping a sheet of paper in proper position to be engaged by the grip-- pers, and a resilient tongue secured at one end to a fixed support and located above the first-mentioned tongue, said. resilient tongue being' adapted and adj usted to exert ayielding pressure on the upper side' of a sheet of paper as it is fed toward said stops for the purpose ot holding it against the supporting tongue.

9.. In a printing press-,in combination, a rotating' cylinder provided with gripping devices, means for :feeding sheets of paper to said cylinder, means for' guiding the paper into position to beengaged by the grippcrs, said guide means comprising a tongue adapted to support a sheet of paper, a stop mechanism operatively associated With said tongue for stopping a sheet of paper in proper position to be engaged by the grippers, a resilient tongue secured at one end to a fixed. su port. and.kr located above the first-mentions tongue, said resilient tongue being adapted and adjusted to exert a yielding pressure on the upper side of a sheet of paper as it is fed towards said stops for the purpose of holding it against the supporting tongue, and means for adjusting the pressure` exerted by the auxiliary tongue.

3. In a printing press, in combination, a rotating cylinder provided with gripping devices, means for feeding sheetsl of paperl to said cylinder, means for guidin the paper into position to be engagetlby t e grppers,

said guide ineansI comprising a tongue ada. `'ted to support a. sheet of paper, a stop mechanism operatively' associated with said tongue for' stopping a sheet of paper in proper position to be engaged by the grippers, a resilient tongue located above the first-mentioned tongue, said resilient tongue being adapted to exert a pressure` on the upper side of o sheet of paper for the purpose of holding it against the supporting tongue, and means for adjusting thefpressure exerted by the auxiliary torgue, said means cornprsing a screwY three edly connected to a bracket and having its end in contact with the resilient tongue.

4. In a printing press, in combination, a rotating cylinder provided with gripping devices, means for feeding sheets of paper to said cylinder, means for guiding the paper into position to be engaged by the grippers, said guide means comprising a tongue adapted to support asheet of paper, a stop mechanism operatively associated with said tongue for stopping a sheet of paper in proper position to be engaged by the grippers, and means located above and normal y contacting with the upper surface of the guide tongue for preventing the paper from rebounding and curling, said means comprising a fiat strip of resilient material having one end anchored to the press frame and y the' other end'resting on theguide tongue.

In. testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VILLIAM C. HAMMERSMITH. 

